AirAsia X Boosts Capacity to Tokyo

Long-haul, low-cost carrier AirAsia X has announced plans to increase capacity between Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo Haneda. The airline currently offers three flights per week on the route but will increase to a six times weekly schedule from March 23, 2012 and to a daily basis from June 22, 2012.

The increase in frequency is part of the airline’s recently announced realignment plan which will focus on increasing services to its core markets in Australasia, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. The increase in flight frequencies to Tokyo (Haneda) follows AirAsia X’s recent announcement of its latest Australian route to Sydney from April 1, 2012.

AirAsia X says it has carried over 100,000 passengers between Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo Haneda with an average passenger load factor of 75 per cent. The airline incurred a drop in passenger traffic from March to June 2011 due to the Tohoku tragedy. However, it says, demand has rebounded with healthy two-way traffic consistently above 80 per cent.

“The increase in flights to and from Tokyo is in response to the growing demand for the sector, which continues to see steady increase in passenger traffic and yields from the time AirAsia X first began flying into the Japanese city on December 9, 2010,” said Azran Osman-Rani, Chief Executive Officer, AirAsia X.

“With our wide network and strong brand affinity in Japan, we remain focused to grow our existing core markets and are geared up to capitalise on the continuous increase in demand for air travel to and from Japan. We will also leverage on our affiliate airline, AirAsia to provide a feeder network for intra-ASEAN travel as the world shifts its focus towards Asia and the emerging markets across ASEAN,” he added.